THE PUSHARO PETROGLYPHS

On the banks of the Palatoa river in Manu National Park - Madre de Dios, it’s located the largest petroglyph of Peru, which was carved between 1000 and 2000 A.D. In 2003 It was recognized as an archaeological heritage by the National Institute of Culture of Peru.

The first description of the petroglyphs was made by the Dominican missionary Vicente de Cenitagoya in 1921.  Dr. Carlos Neuenschwander from Arequipa, studied Pusharo site in 1969. Besides its gigantic size, takes our attention  the engraving pictures. Many studious argued that such drawings would be related to the legendary kingdom of Paititi.

The italian researcher Yuri Leveratto indicates that it could be related to the Quiaca petroglyphs.

Most of the glyphs represent  animal hunting, and even when they have not managed to successfully figure out  the drawings,  the closest interpretation would be the one that holds Reichel-Dolmatoff and Schultes & Hofmann: Petroglyphs are representations of the Amazonian mythological people performed by shamans, influenced by the use of hallucinogenic plants.

Not far from the petroglyphs, the recent discovery of giant figures carved on the eastern slope of a mountain, also may significantly change our knowledge of the Incas in this place and the theory of its influence in the Amazonian people, but it hasn’t been demonstrated yet.

 For more information about the Manu National Park: Manu

Recently Excavated Headless Skeleton Expands Understanding Of Ancient Andean Rituals

Science Daily — Images of disembodied heads are widespread in the art of Nasca, a culture based on the southern coast of Peru from AD 1 to AD 750. But despite this evidence and large numbers of trophy heads in the region's archaeological record, only eight headless bodies have been recovered with evidence of decapitation, explains Christina A. Conlee (Texas State University). Conlee's analysis of a newly excavated headless body from the site of La Tiza provides important new data on decapitation and its relationship to ancient ideas of death and regeneration.

As Conlee outlines in the June issue of Current Anthropology, the third vertebrae of the La Tiza skeleton has dark cut marks, rounded edges, and no evidence of flaking or breakage, indicating decapitation occurred at or very soon after the time of death. A ceramic jar decorated with an image of a head was placed next to the body. The head has a tree with eyes growing out of it, the branches encircling the vessel.

"Ritual battles often take place just before plowing for potato planting, and trees and unripened fruit figure in these rituals, in which the shedding of blood is necessary to nourish the earth to produce a good harvest," Conlee writes. "The presence of scalp cuts on Nasca trophy heads suggests the letting of blood was an important part of the ritual that resulted in decapitation."

Conlee also points to damage on the jar that indicates it had already been handled and used before being included in the tomb. This was only the third head jar found with a headless skeleton. Most are found at domestic sites, and prior research has concluded that they were probably used to drink from, most likely in connection with fertility rituals. "If the head jar was used to drink from during fertility rituals, then its inclusion in the burial further strengthens the relationship between decapitation and rebirth," Conlee explains.

Notably, there is also no evidence of habitation in the La Tiza region during the Middle Nasca period (AD 450-550), to which the head jar dates. All of the Nasca domestic sites in the area date to the Early Nasca, indicating that the La Tiza skeleton may have been deliberately buried in an abandoned settlement that was associated with the ancestors.

"Human sacrifice and decapitation were part of powerful rituals that would have allayed fears by invoking the ancestors to ensure fertility and the continuation of Nasca society," Conlee writes. "The decapitation of the La Tiza individual appears to have been part of a ritual associated with ensuring agricultural fertility and the continuation of life and rebirth of the community."

Reference: Christina A. Conlee, "Decapitation and Rebirth: A Headless Burial from Nasca, Peru." Current Anthropology 48:3.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Chicago Press Journals.